Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.

org

Ellie Lugsdin

Space Exploration –
The Contributions of Major Scientists
Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)
Tsiolkovsky, a mathematics teacher at Borovsk, Kulaga Province, became
interested in space flight after reading Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the
Moon”. At just 16, Tsiolkovsky was struck with an amazing idea: “Why not use
centrifugal force to launch a spacecraft from Earth?” Although later, he saw the
flaw in this concept, it was this that compelled him to undergo work on the theory
of rocket flight.

On March 28th 1883, he demonstrated the very first principles of reaction engines
by experimenting with opening a cask full of compressed gas, and from this, he
discovered that he was able to control the speed of the cask by alternating the
pressure of the gas released. Tsiolkovsky’s first draft of a reaction thrust motor
was completed on August 25th, 1898.

In his 1903 paper, “Isslyedovanye mirovykh prostranstv ryeaktivnymi priborami”

(“Investigation of World Spaces with reactive devices”), in the journal Science
Review, he first presented his concept of liquid-fuel rockets, and the theory of
flight of a rocket with changing mass (rocket equation), used to escape the
bounds of the Earth.
This equation is: a = (T – mg)/m
Where a = acceleration
T = upwards thrust of the rocket
m = mass
g = gravity

This formula shows that the acceleration of a rocket is not uniform, it increases
logarithmically as the launch proceeds. (See Fig. 1) This is because a lot of the
rocket’s mass is fuel, and as fuel is burnt off, mass decreases.

Fig. 1 – Acceleration of a rocket over time (DE Booklet)

 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

This is proved by Newton’s Second Law, stating that Force is equal to mass
times acceleration (F = ma). Force in the equation can be thought of as the thrust
of the rocket engine. Mass in the equation is the amount of rocket fuel being
burned and converted into gas that expands and then escapes from the rocket.
Acceleration is the rate at which the gas escapes. Inside the rocket, the gas does
not really move, but as it leaves the engine it picks up speed. So therefore, as
thrust (force) increases, and mass decreases due to the fuel being burnt,
acceleration must increase, and as thrust is continuous until shut off, the rate of
mass reduction will also be continuous and therefore the rate of acceleration will
increase logarithmically.

Also during 1903, Tsiolkovsky drafted the first design of the liquid-fuel rockets
that he outlined in his paper. It would be powered by liquid oxygen and hydrogen,
creating an explosive mixture in the narrow end of a tube. This would then be
combusted, creating heated condensed gases, which would quickly cool and
rarefy, escaping through a nozzle and creating a great force (thrust) that propels
the rocket. Liquid oxygen-hydrogen fuel appealed to Tsiolkovsky because the
thermal energy released in its reaction was the highest he knew. He appeared to
disregard the problems with liquefied gases and the effect of low temperatures
on metal. Tsiolkovsky also speculated using other fuels to replace hydrogen such
as acetylene or petroleum, and as he became increasingly aware of the
difficulties associated with hydrogen, he moved further away from the idea, and
chose other alternatives.

Another of Tsiolkovsky’s ideas was that of multi-staged rockets. His design of the
“passenger rocket train of 2017” employed 20 single-engine rocket stages, each
carrying it’s own fuel supply. He stated it would be 300 ft long and 12 ft wide, and
built from 3 layers of metal.

A year before his death, Tsiolkovsky submitted a paper which summarised his
theories about fuels for rockets. He listed six properties a fuel should have:
• Maximum work per unit mass on combustion
• Gaseous combustion products
• Low combustion temperature to prevent chamber burnout
• High density
• Liquid that readily mixes
• If gaseous, must have high critical temperature and low critical temperature in
liquid form.
He also stated that costly compounds should be avoided, and analysed the
suitability of different fuels, such as hydrogen-oxygen, methane, benzene,
acetylene, ethylene, methanol, ethanol, ether and turpentine. He also considered
other oxidisers such as ozone, oxygen, nitrous oxide, nitrogen dioxide and
nitrogen tetroxide. He also considered solid-propellant rockets, but dismissed
them on the basis of their low-energy and danger of unexpected explosion.
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

Tsiolkovsky was only a theorist, and he never tested out, or physically proved his
ideas, but his ideas inspired many others, one of which was Russian Chief
Controller Sergi Korolev during the Space race years of 1950 – 1960, who
formed a group that studied the fundamentals of rocket science. He later lead the
USSR to put the first artificial satellite into space (Sputnik) and living creatures
into orbit (Laika the dog), as well as the first man in space, Uri Gagarin.

Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882 – 1945)

Goddard was inspired by Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon” and “War
of the Worlds,” by HG Wells, at an early age. While a student at South High
School in Worcester, in 1902, he submitted an article speculating on possibility of
rocketry and space travel called “The Navigation of Space”.

Goddard first obtained public notice in 1907 in a cloud of smoke from a powder
rocket fired in the basement of the physics building in Worcester Polytechnic
Institute, where he graduated from in 1908.
He received a doctorate of Physics at Clark University in 1909, and, during his
studies there, began to make detailed calculations regarding liquid-fuelled rocket
engines, theorizing that liquid oxygen – liquid hydrogen would make an ideal
propellant. In 1913, Goddard compared the explosive fuel, guncotton, to liquid
hydrogen-oxygen, pointing out the difficulties incurred with keeping oxygen solid,
and hydrogen liquid for the sake of lightness. He recognised a practicality
problem with obtaining and working with the liquefied gases, and stated
guncotton, while having less energy, would be more practical.

In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents. One was for a rocket using liquid
fuel. The other was for a two or three stage rocket using solid fuel. He also
patented many of his other designs such as combustion chambers, exhaust
nozzles and propellant feed systems. He began to make systematic studies
about propulsion provided by various types of gunpowder. He wrote a document
in 1916 requesting funds of the Smithsonian Institution so that he could continue
his research, entitled "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes." In this paper, he
detailed his search for methods of raising weather-recording instruments higher
than sounding balloons. In this search he developed the mathematical theories of
rocket propulsion - he proved that a rocket could fly in a vacuum, due to
Newton's law of action and reaction.

This meant, that as every action, had a reaction, the forced on the rocket had to
equal the negative force on the gases. (Frocket = -Fgases). Even though the forces
are equal and opposite, the rocket only experiences the thrust force from the
gases. (See fig. 2).
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

Fig 2. Forces Pairs influencing a rocket after lift-off (DE Booklet)

This forward momentum can be explained by the Law of Conservation of

Momentum. As the states that during any interaction in a closed system the total
momentum of the system remains the same, then the increase in forward thrust
momentum must equal and oppose the increase in momentum of the exhaust
gases, in one period of time (e.g. 1 sec). The equation that represents this is as
follows:
Total p for a closed system = 0
procket = - pgases
(mv)rocket = - (mv)gases since p = mv
Where:
p = change in momentum
m = mass in kg
v = velocity in ms

Also in 1915-1916, Goddard conducted a series of unsuccessful experiments,

trying to fire solid propellant rockets, activating them with a succession of
charges, much like machine guns, which not only turned out to be too difficult,
but very heavy as well. Goddard then went back theorizing about liquid
hydrogen-solid oxygen mixtures, pointing out that they had greater capability
than smokeless powder. He suggested that the liquid hydrogen-solid oxygen
mixture could be encased within a smokeless powder capsule. However, this
was not tested.

Towards the end of his 1920 report, Goddard outlined the possibility of a rocket
reaching the moon and exploding a load of flash powder there to mark its arrival.
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

Goddard's work largely anticipated in technical detail the later German V-2
missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by vanes in the jet stream of the
rocket motor, gimbalsteering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices.
In 1922, he experimented with ether and oxygen in continuous combustion,
rather than his earlier interest, hydrogen-oxygen, mainly due to the difficulties
with obtaining, handling and price of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. He then went
on to work on other problems such as building and flying a complete rocket
vehicle into space.

His rocket flight in 1929 carried the first scientific payload, a barometer, and a
camera. Goddard also developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the
"bazooka". In World War II, Goddard offered his services and was assigned by
the U.S. Navy to the development of practical jet assisted takeoff and liquid
propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust.

Goddard was the first scientist who not only realized the potential of missiles and
space flight but also contributed directly in bringing them to practical realization.

Wernher Von Braun (1912 – 1977)

Von Braun was also inspired by reading the science fiction of Jules Verne and
H.G. Wells, and from the science fact writings of Hermann Oberth, whose 1923
classic study, “By Rocket to Space”, compelled Von Braun to master calculus
and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry.

After graduation from Gymnasium (high school), he entered Berlin Institute of

Technology in 1930, where he began his early experiments with testing of liquid-
fueled rocket engines under the direction of Professor Hermann Oberth, and later
under the sponsorship of the German Society for Space Travel.

In 1929, Von Braun became involved in the German rocket society, Verein fur
Raumschiffarht. In 1932, he went to work for the German army to develop
ballistic missiles, as a means of furthering his desire to build large and capable
rockets. While working in this field, Von Braun received a Ph.D. in aerospace
engineering. Throughout the 1930s, he continued to develop rockets for the
German army.

Wernher Von Braun's rocket team developed the V-2 rocket, operating at a
secret laboratory at Peenemunde on the Baltic coast. This rocket was the
immediate model that rockets used in space exploration programs in the United
States and the Soviet Union are based on.
The V-2 was first flown in October 1942, it was employed against targets in
Europe beginning in September 1944. On the sixth, for instance, more than
6,000 Germans deployed to Holland and northern Germany to bomb Belgium,
France, and London with two newly developed V-2s.
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

By the beginning of 1945, it was obvious to Von Braun that Germany would not
achieve victory against the Allies, and he began planning for the postwar era.
Before the Allied capture of the V-2 rocket complex, Von Braun engineered the
surrender of 500 of his top rocket scientists, along with plans and test vehicles, to
the Americans.

For fifteen years after World War II, Von Braun would work with the United States
army in the development of ballistic missiles. As part of a military operation called
Project Paperclip, he and his rocket team were scooped up from defeated
Germany and sent to America where they were installed at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The world's most powerful rockets at the time were developed at the Huntsville
facility under Von Braun's guidance. He was directly involved in the continuing
American space exploration efforts, including the development of the Saturn 1
and the Saturn V boosters, the Gemini managed-flight project, and the Apollo
Moon Flight project.

Accordingly, Von Braun became director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that
would propel Americans to the Moon. Von Braun also became one of the most
prominent spokesmen of space exploration in the United States during the
1950s. In 1970, NASA leadership asked Von Braun to move to Washington, DC,
to head up the strategic planning effort for the agency.

Current Research in Space Exploration

The developments of technologies that advance fields such as space exploration
are ongoing and rapid. In particular, NASA in America, is researching many
different aspects of space exploration, including:
• Rocket propulsion engines such as the Variable-Specific-Impulse
Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), a high-power, electric, thermal plasma
engine, employing hydrogen propellant and continuous thrust to achieve high-
speed during long space missions. It has possibilities as an orbital transfer
rocket and an interplanetary booster for robotic or manned payloads. It
contains 3 magnetic cells, the forwards cell is where the hydrogen is injected
and ionized into plasma, the central cell heats plasma with radio-frequency
excitation and acceleration through magnetic fields, and the aft cell is a
magnetic nozzle that converts thermal energy of the plasma in a directed
flow, while protecting nozzle walls. The total system is a low-mass engine that
achieves high-vehicle speeds through continuous thrust.
• Solar wind particle collection and research by Genesis, which has a special
collector array launched to catch solar particles from the solar wind, and take
them back to Earth for research after 2 years.
• Observations by various satellites, including observation of Jupiter’s moon Io,
by Galileo, and of Venus, by the Chandra X-ray observatory.
• Chemical analysis of other planet’s atmosphere by the Hubble Space
Telescope
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

• Detection and research of gravitational waves by the Cassini spacecraft.

• Construction of the first comet orbiter, Rosetta, for research on how gases
escape from the nucleus of a comet
• Research into the effects of weightlessness on the Human Skeletal system

Timeline

13th C Chinese fire-arrows were the first simple solid-fuel rockets. (Tubes of
gunpowder, sealed at the top end and attached to a long stick) When
the gunpowder was ignited, it burned rapidly to produce flame, smoke
and – most importantly – gases that escaped from the rear of the tube
and created the thrust that pushed the rocket forward. The stick kept
the rocket going in the right direction.

First use of rockets as weapons in Europe.

1650 Johann Schmidlap, a German fireworks maker, invented a multi-stage

‘step rocket’ to create more spectacular displays. A large first-stage
rocket carried a smaller second-stage rocket aloft. When the first-stage
burned out, the second-stage carried on up and threw out glowing
cinders.

1686 Isaac Newton publishes his three laws of motion, which explain -
among many other things - how rocket propulsion works.

18th C Scientists in Russia and Germany experiment with rockets with

masses of 40 kilograms or more.

1903 Russian schoolteacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky realises that liquid

propellants would give rockets the speed and range they would need
to escape the Earth’s atmosphere and into space, & develops rocket
equation.

1926 The first successful flight of liquid-propellant rocket designed by the

American Robert Goddard and fuelled by petroleum and liquid oxygen,
made a 2.5 second flight, landing just 50 metres from the launch site.

1931 Sergei Pavlovich Korolev forms a Moscow group for the investigation
of jet propulsion.

1932 Germany takes on Werner Von Braun to develop rocket-powered

weapons.

1942 The first A4 rocket, known later as the V2, is launched by Von Braun,
and rose only about 100 metres, then crashed into the sea, just over a
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

kilometre from the launch site.

1942 At their third attempt at launching an A4, Von Braun’s team was
successful, as the alcohol/liquid oxygen propellant carried the A4
200km to strike the selected target.

1945 Sergei Korolev witnesses US-sanctioned test launches of V2 rockets in

liberated Europe, and signaled the starting point for the Soviet Space
Program, culminating in the first man in space and the first manned
space station.

1946 Werner Von Braun's rocket team relocates to the US to work on new
US Space Program.
The first V2 is launched in the United States.
1948 The launch of the first Soviet R-1 rocket, based on V2 design.
1949 The first entirely Soviet-designed rocket, R-2E, is launched.
First launch of US Viking rocket.
1950 First launch of Bumper, a two-stage US designed rocket combining a
V2-type first-stage and a WAC Corporal second-stage.
1957 The USSR launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the
Earth.
Laika, a Soviet dog, becomes first living creature to orbit the Earth.
1958 America’s first satellite is launched into orbit.
A Jupiter-Redstone rocket, essentially a highly refined development of
the V2, launches Explorer I - America's first orbiting satellite.
America launches the first unmanned lunar probe.
The launch vehicle is an Atlas first-stage with an Able second-stage.
Unfortunately it fails 45 seconds after lift-off when part of the structure
tears away.
1959 Soviets launch Luna 1, which flies past the Moon in January
1961 Uri Gagarin becomes the first man to orbit Earth, and is in space for
108 minutes.
The first American, Alan Shepard, makes a short sub-orbital flight into
space, returning immediately to Earth.
Russia starts development of the Proton launcher, which remains in
use today.
1962 An Atlas rocket launches the first American into orbit.
Mariner 2 is the first space probe to fly past another planet - Venus.
1963 A Russian, Valentina Tereshkova, becomes the first woman in space.
1965 The first manned Gemini flight.
A Titan II rocket powers Virgil Grissom and John Young into space to
make three orbits of the earth - the first of a long series of flights which
paved the way for the Apollo Moon program.

1967 The Soviets assemble the first N1 rocket using NK-15 engines, and
was the first successful closed-cycle rocket engine, developing an
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

extra 25 percent lifting power by channeling the exhaust products from

the pre-burner into the combustion chamber to be re-fired.

1968 The launch of Apollo 7, which orbits the earth for 11 days.
1969 The first test flight of unmanned N1 rocket, which explodes 40
kilometres from the launch site. A second unsuccessful launch takes
place in July.
Apollo 11 blasts off carrying the first humans to land on the surface of
the Moon and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men on
the Moon.
1970 A Long March rocket launches Mao1, China’s first space satellite
1971 The third and fourth N1 rockets both explode in mid-air
1972 The launch of Pioneer 10, destination Jupiter
1973 A new NK33 engine introduced for N1 rocket, which is the most
powerful liquid oxygen/kerosene engine ever built.
The Saturn V booster launches Skylab 1 into orbit
1974 The Soviet Politburo abandons the N1 program and order rockets to
be dismantled.
1975 Viking 1 makes the first trip to Mars.
1977 Voyagers 1 and 2 set off to explore the outer regions of the solar
system.
1981 The first launch of the US Space Shuttle.
1987 Russia’s Energia rocket is launched.
1988 A Long March 4 rocket launches a Chinese weather satellite into orbit.
China also launches a new Weaver Girl 1 rocket.

1993 The first of Atlas Centaur rockets’ series of 46 successful missions.

US rocket scientists are taken to see stored NK33s, and find 60
pristine engines, of a compact design that they had never seen before.
What surprised them most was that the engines used the closed-cycle
technology that had been rejected by American rocket scientists as
being too risky.
1995 The first static test firing in the USA of a Russian-built NK33 engine.
1999 The latest version of China’s Long March rocket launches an
unmanned prototype of a re-useable capsule which has been designed
to carry humans into orbit in 21st century.
2000 An American Atlas rocket equipped with a single Russian RD180
rocket engine successfully blasts off from Cape Canaveral.
The RD180 is the latest development in closed-loop rocket technology.
It is so powerful that a single engine replaces five of the US-designed
engines used for previous Atlas rocket launches.

2001 Atlas V, a new family of US rockets incorporating the Russian RD180

engine developed.
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

Bibliography
Warren, N. (2000) Excel HSC Physics, Pascal Press, Glebe
Lethbridge, C. (1999) Hermann Oberth, Spaceline: History of Rocketry Part 1:
Hermann Oberth, http://spaceline.org/history/25.html
Lethbridge, C. (1999) Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky, Spaceline: History of
Rocketry: Tsiolkovsky, http://spaceline.org/history/21.html
Lethbridge, C. (1999) Robert Hutchings Gordon, Spaceline: History of Rocketry:
Goddard, http://spaceline.org/history/22.html
LMPC (2001) Part 3: Lift Off
Anonymous, (1997) The History of Aviation and Modern Rocketry, Space History:
Aviation, rocketry and pre-manned spaceflight history,
http://www.thespaceplace.com/history/rocket2.html
Benson, T. (unknown) Rocket Principles, Glen Learning Technologies Project,
http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/Other_Groups/K-12/TRC/Rockets/rocket_princples.html
Anonymous, (unknown) Newton’s Laws of Motion, None,
http://home.earthlink.net/~voraze/rocketry/newton.html
Anonymous, (1998) The Engines that came in from the cold, Channel 4,
http://www.channel4.com/plus/cosmo/t_timeline.html
Anonymous, (unknown) Rocket Motors, Model Rocketry,
http://www.quantumscientific.com/modroc3.html
Launius, R.D (1997) Wernher Von Braun (1912 – 1977), Sputnik Biographies,
NASA, http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/braun.html
Anonymous, (unknown) Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer, NASA
Facts,
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/fact_sheets/general/goddard/godda
rd.html
Anonymous, (unknown) Appendix A-2 Rocket Pioneers, Liquid Hydrogen As A
Propulsion Fuel, 1945-1959, unknown address (see note below)
Anonymous, (2000) Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky [Ciolkowski] (1857-1935),
URANOS Group, unknown address (see note below)
Hamilton, CJ. (unknown) A Brief History of Rocketry, Unknown,
http://www.star.le.ac.uk/edu/solar/rocket.html
Brynes, J. (1998) Recent Developments in Space Exploration and Plans for the
Future, Unknown http://corona.eps.pitt.edu/www_GPS/courses/GEO0870-
Summer98/nasa-developments.html
Anonymous, (Unknown) Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky Scientific Biography, unknown
address (see note below)
Ken, L. (Unknown) Rockets, unknown address (see note below)
Anonymous, (2001) An Impulse Engine Scottie Would Love – NASA Tech Briefs,
Sept 2001, Machinery/Automation: “Variable-Specific-Impulse Magnetoplasma
Rocket”Propulsion Technologies Roundup, Current News Notes
http://www.pietro.org/Astro_Home/NN_Current.htm
Unknown, Flight 107 STS-108, NASA,
 Bored of Studies - www.boredofstudies.org

Ellie Lugsdin

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of
.Space/Human.Space.Flight/Shuttle/Shuttle.Missions/Flight.107.STS-
108/.index.html
Unknown (2001), Hot Topics, NASA Spacelink,
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Spacelink.Hot.Topics/.index.html

NOTE: Some of the material was given to me by a student who finished her HSC
this year, and their source is not stated on the articles.